Frequently Asked Questions:
What areas are assessed in a neuropsychological evaluation?
Why is a
neuropsychological evaluation performed?
Why choose a neuropsychologist to assess Learning Disabilities?
How is it helpful for children with AD/HD?
How is a neuropsychological evaluation performed?
Is a referral necessary?
What are some situations where the evaluation would be helpful?
Why do some
students have reading comprehension problems?
How do we
teach children to comprehend while they read?
What
areas are assessed in a neuropsychological evaluation?
A typical neuropsychological
evaluation analyzes functioning in the following areas:
- Executive functions (problem
solving, self-monitoring, processing speed, planning)
- Attention (various types of
attentional abilities)
- Intelligence
- Academic Achievement
- Memory
- Language
- Visual-spatial skills
- Motor skills
- Behavioral functioning
Comparisons are made between the
child’s level of functioning in each area to the typical population.
After the evaluation, a comprehensive feedback session is scheduled to
explain and review the results of the evaluation. Dr. Kelly will meet with the family and
outline the recommendations and interventions detailed within the report.
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Why is a
neuropsychological evaluation performed?
A neuropsychological
evaluation is typically administered to individuals who are not performing
adequately in school, perhaps despite a previous diagnosis, placement, or
treatment. It is also administered
to individuals who may have an underlying neurological weakness or deficit
attributing to the difficulty. The evaluation provides the opportunity for
the child, family, school, and other providers to understand the extent and
nature of the difficulty.
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Why
choose a neuropsychologist to assess learning disabilities?
Because learning
disabilities are known to be brain-based, a comprehensive evaluation should
include tests measuring brain functioning in a variety of areas. Neuropsychologists are specially trained
to understand and evaluate the relationships between brain functioning,
behavior, psychological functioning, and results of such tests. Results of such evaluations include
testing of the areas of the brain though to be implicated in learning and
attention disorders, allowing for the implementation of strategic
interventions based on the findings.
This evaluation is integral to the diagnosis of all learning
disorders, particularly those more subtle, and clarifies the nature of the
neurocognitive components of the disorder.
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How is it helpful for children with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)?
To diagnose ADHD all you
really need is a clinical interview and behavior ratings - maybe takes an
hour to do. But to provide an understanding of what aspects of attention
are disrupted and how these impact the child's academic, emotional, and
social functioning takes a more in-depth evaluation, well beyond what is
necessary for an ADHD diagnosis.
A neuropsychological
evaluation is an objective method for diagnosing attentional disorders,
because it specifically measures attention and related cognitive skill
deficits usually implicated in AD/HD. The evaluation involves an
integration of medical and educational history, behavioral data, and test
results. Testing includes batteries of attention and executive
functioning to help obtain standardized measures of the child’s
performance more than just reliance on behavior rating scales. A
neuropsychological evaluation also provides the opportunity to detect other
problems often associated with AD/HD, such as learning disabilities,
behavioral difficulties, memory weaknesses, etc.
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How
is a neuropsychological evaluation performed?
A neuropsychological evaluation is a
comprehensive assessment of many
areas of the child’s functioning.
Therefore, it is comprised of a variety of tests administered over
the course of a full day. Most tests
involve the child answering questions or attempting various tasks in a
one-on-one testing environment. Many
breaks are offered throughout the day, with most school-age children being
able to complete the testing in one session. Not only is one session a more convenient
option for the family, it also allows the child’s behavior and
functioning to be observed throughout the course of an entire school day.
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Is
a referral necessary?
No, although many times a physician (primary
care, pediatrician, psychiatrist, or neurologist) refers a patient for a
neuropsychological evaluation to better understand the nature for the
child’s difficulties and to monitor a child’s functioning in
response to treatment interventions.
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What
are some situations where the evaluation would be helpful?
AD/HD
·
Rule
in or rule out a diagnosis (second opinion)
·
Child
continues to struggle despite treatment or other interventions
·
Obtain
information about the type of attention impairments the child is evidencing
·
Differentiate
attention from memory and/or other neurocognitive factors
Learning Disabilities
·
What
type of learning disorder
·
Neurocognitive
reasons to explain the disorder
·
Rule
in or out a learning disability diagnosis
·
Differentiate
between learning and attention disorder
·
Understand
memory function as it impacts the learning difficulties
·
Recommendations
based on neurocognitive strengths and weaknesses
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Why do some students have reading
comprehension problems?
There are
various components that impact reading comprehension, such as the
following:
DECODING PROBLEMS
Reading comprehension can be compromised if a reader has significant
problems “sounding-out” the words in a passage. A conflict may arise in the brain between
decoding the words while simultaneously attempting to understand the
written text and apply that understanding to prior comprehension of the
text.
ATTENTION AND SELF-REGULATION DIFFICULTIES
A reader must be able to relate the current text being read to the
previous text in order of develop a clear understanding of the entire
passage. This requires on-going
monitoring of one’s ability to “build the story”. Because of the requirements involved in
comprehension monitoring, students who struggle with attention and other
self-regulation difficulties may have difficulty the on-going comprehension
of read text.
WORKING MEMORY DEFICITS
Reading comprehension may suffer due to difficulties during the
simultaneous storage and processing of language. This leads to the ability
to read what is being read but not able to understand and remember the
context.
LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION PROBLEMS
Overall weak verbal and language skills may also contribute to poor
reading comprehension. Such
difficulty would be evident with both written and oral language.
For more in-depth information
regarding reading difficulties visit
www.readingcomprehensioninfo.com
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How do we teach children to comprehend
while they read?
Instructional procedures usually include
1. having students read material
2. having students answer questions
Only a very few teachers use visual imagery- and those
teachers report using it less than 4% of teaching time (Lloyd, 1995-96)
Teachers assess reading comprehension rather
than teach the skill (Mason, 1983;
Mason & Osborne, 1982)
READING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS
IS TESTING COMPREHENSION NOT TEACHING COMPREHENSION
Comprehension
monitoring
and the use of visual imagery
techniques have been proven as effective tools in improving reading
comprehension
Visual imagery helps children improve memory for passages (Oakhill
& Patel, 1991)
Poor readers do not monitor their comprehension as well as good
readers (Paris & Myers, 1981)
For more in-depth information
regarding reading difficulties visit
www.readingcomprehensioninfo.com
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